Saturday, March 21, 2015

Tbilisi Grand Prix 2015 - DAY 2

The Tbilisi Grand Prix 2015 produced a
blistering second day in front of an expectant and teeming crowd at the
Sports Palace on Saturday.

On day two gold medallists were crowned in the women’s
-63kg and -70kg categories and men’s -73kg and -81kg categories as home
hopes were focused on the fortunes of world champion Avtandili
TCHRIKISHVILI (GEO) and Olympic champion Lasha SHAVDATUASHVILI (GEO).

The Georgian Judo Federation's delivery of this year's
event won praise from IJF Sports Director Mr. Armen BAGDASAROV who
recognised the development of the Tbilisi Grand Prix since the inaugural
edition a year ago.

Mr. BAGDASAROV said: “The organisation has improved a
lot this year and that is a credit to Georgian Judo Federation and
Ministry of Sport. The level of the competition is also stronger with
countries and athletes all excited to compete in Georgia.

“The Olympic qualification process is well underway and
every tournament has great incentive for all athletes. Our new season
has started well and we are looking forward to next week’s Samsun Grand
Prix.”

One more accolade for Georgia's judo hero

Before the final block on day two, world champion
Avtandil TCHRIKISHVILI (GEO) was honoured by national newspaper Lelo
after winning their Sportsman of the Year Award.

The Georgian hero, who was also the Ministry of Sport’s
Sportsman of the Year in 2013 and 2014, was presented with a trophy and
certificate by Lelo’s chief editor Tengiz GACHECHILADZE on the stage.

There was a special awarding ceremony to honour Dr.
Zurab KAKHABRISHVILI for his contributions to the development of world
judo.

Mr. KAKHABRISHVILI received a Special Recognition IJF
plaque for his work with the Georgian national team over the last 25
years during which time he has been an integral team member at five
Olympic Games. The presentation was made by IJF Head Sports Director Mr.
Vladimir BARTA.

Mr. BARTA said: “I have known Zurab for many, many
years and in that time he’s occupied many roles as a coach, doctor and
team leader to name a few. He’s a special person and has made friends
all over the world with his open heart and personality. I was very
pleased to present him with a richly-deserved award today.”

Two of judo’s finest athletes, world champions Avtandil
TCHRIKISHVILI (GEO) and Teddy RINER (FRA), have both been nominated in
the first ever SportAccord Awards which are due to take place during the
SportAccord Convention in Sochi, Russia on 23 April.

Tbilisi Grand Prix 2015 poster boy TCHRIKISHVILI has
been nominated for Sportsman of the Year while Teddy RINER (FRA) has
been nominated for Sport Hero of the Year.

The four athletes with the most votes in each category
will advance to the final four and attend the Awards Gala where a
selection panel will decide the winner. You can vote up the five times.
Vote now at awards.sportaccord.com. Voting closes on Tuesday 24 March at midnight CET.

On Sunday, the three-day competition will come to a
close with five gold medals set to be decided. Judo fans around the
world will follow the action on TV and live on the internet (www.ippon.tv) in the men’s -90kg, -100kg and +100kg categories and the women’s -78kg and +78kg categories.

Olympic champion Kayla HARRISON (USA), former world
champion SOL Kyong (PRK), world bronze medallist Varlam LIPARTELIANI
(GEO) and 20-year-old world silver medallist TOTH Krisztian (HUN) will be among the leading names to look out for on the last day.

World champions Teddy RINER
(FRA) and Avtandili TCHRIKISHVILI (GEO) have been nominated for
SportAccord's Sports Hero of the Year and Sportsman of the Year
respectively.

WOMEN

-63kg: Slovenia's TRSTENJAK triumphs in Tbilisi

Tokyo Grand Slam winner Tina TRSTENJAK (SLO) ruled the
-63kg category on day two as she defeated Dusseldorf Grand Prix silver
medallist TSEDEVSUREN Munkhzaya (MGL) in the final. TSEDEVSUREN, who
stunned world silver medallist and top seed Yarden GERBI (ISR) in the
second round, lost out in her second consecutive IJF Grand Prix final,
as the glory went to world number three TRSTENJAK, who was the number
two seed here in Georgia. The Slovenian went ahead with a yuko from an
osoto-otoshi before overpowering her rival on the ground to hold her
down with yoko-shiho-gatame for 20 seconds and ippon.

In the first semi-final TSEDEVSUREN defeated world
number six Edwige GWEND (ITA) by the slender margin of a yuko which was
the only score in a tightly-contested contest. TSEDEVSUREN was composed
before and after scoring as GWEND could find no way past the Mongolian’s
robust defensive work. In the second semi-final TRSTENJAK bested Prague
European Open winner Marta LABAZINA (RUS) on shido penalties in a
contest which required the Slovenian to grit her teeth and show her
character. The vastly-underrated TRSTENJAK prevailed as her record was
unblemished while her Russian rival was penalised twice.

The first bronze medal was won by world number nine
Martyna TRAJDOS (GER) who beat losing semi-finalist LABAZINA by the
smallest of margins. LABAZINA lost out after being penalised with a
single shido while her German opponent did not infringe at any point
during the four minute contest. The second bronze medal was claimed by
beaten semi-finalist GWEND as she came back to form against Abu Dhabi
Grand Slam bronze medallist Agata OZDOBA (POL). Fourth seed GWEND would
have expected to be on the podium and did just that as a result of
OZDOBA receiving two penalties for passivity while the Italian was only
penalised once.

-70kg: Germany's DIEDRICH wins first IJF title

Dusseldorf Grand Prix silver medallist Szaundra
DIEDRICH (GER) won the first IJF Grand Prix medal of career as she grows
in stature with every competition. The highly-regarded 21-year-old won a
battle of youth against experience as 32-year-old Olympic bronze
medallist Gevrise EMANE (FRA) was made to settle for silver. Tokyo Grand
Slam winner EMANE was penalised at the halfway point for going out of
the area and received a further shido for passivity and DIEDRICH was
guilty of the same indiscretion. EMANE, who shone in the preliminary
rounds, was unable to breach the sharp defensive display from DIEDRICH
but the French fighter will be pleased to continue her medal-winning
record into 2015.

The delighted young German said: “I feel so proud and
good, I am so happy. I won silver in Dusseldorf, so that was the first
step and now I take another step forward by taking gold. It was a very
important win and I now move closer to my teammates on the World Ranking
List.”

In the first semi-final contest EMANE defeated Oberwart
European Open winner Bernadette GRAF (AUT) after 46 seconds by ippon
while in the second semi-final DIEDRICH (GER) proved too strong for
Junior world champion Barbara MATIC (CRO) with a solitary yuko the
difference after four minutes.

The first bronze medal was claimed by Linda BOLDER
(ISR who defeated physically spent MATIC to win her first medal for
Israel. The 26-year-old former World Judo Masters bronze medallist broke
the deadlock with just 15 seconds remaining by scoring a yuko before
trapping her opponent in osaekomi for 20 seconds for ippon.

The second bronze medal contest was won by Junior world
bronze medallist Marie Eve GAHIE (FRA) who ended a miserable day for
top seed GRAF who suffered two defeats in Tbilisi. GAHIE, 18, won the
first IJF Grand Prix medal of her blossoming career by taking the lead
with a yuko and, having impressively turned out of an ura-nage attempt,
remained strong as GRAF applied pressure to mark her arrival on the
senior stage.

-73kg: Azerbaijan ace ORUJOV tops the podium

Number three seed Rustam ORUJOV (AZE) was the pick of
the fighters in the -73kg category as he defeated World number 43 Dastan
YKYBAYEV (KAZ) to be crowned Tbilisi Grand Prix 2015 gold medallist.
World number nine ORUJOV, who took bronze at the Jeju Grand Prix, opened
the scoring with a waza-ari from a sumi-gaeshi and, despite a yuko from
a drop seoi-nage for YKYBAYEV, capped a fine all-round performance with
gold.

In the first semi-final YKYBAYEV defeated home fighter
Zviad KAPANADZE (GEO) by wazari-awasette-ippon which included a match
winning tai-otoshi. In the second semi-final Olympic champion Lasha
SHAVDATUASHVILI (GEO) was defeated by ORUJOV who lost to two successive
waza-ari scores including an opening sasae-tsurikomi-ashi.

The first bronze medal was clinched by SHAVDATUASHVILI
who took silver at his home event in 2014. With a gold backpatch
denoting his Olympic credentials, his opponent, 19-year-old Huseyn
RAHIMLI (AZE), was not overawed. However, RAHIMLI, who was fifth at the
Junior World Championships last year, was thrown with an ouchi-gari for a
yuko score and had to tap out to a juji-gatame as the crowd roared
their approval. That result also provided the hosts’ first medal of the
competition. The second bronze medal was also destined for Georgia as
KAPANADZE, who eliminated top seed SAINJARGAL Nyam-Ochir (MGL) in the
quarter-final, went up against teammate and 2014 gold medallist Nugzari
TATALASHVILI (GEO). KAPANADZE lost by one single shido in a tentative
contest.

-81kg: Russia's KHUBETSOV denies hosts Georgia in the final

Astana Grand Prix winner Alan KHUBETSOV (RUS) won the
last contest on day two against Baku Grand Slam silver medallist Ushangi
MARGIANI (GEO). KHUBETSOV, 21, won his second Grand Prix title as the
crowd and MARGIANI alike were frustrated in a contest which saw both men
cancel each other out. The top spot on the medal podium went to the
Russian as his opponent was given a single shido despite the crowd’s
best efforts to urge him on.

In the first semi-final MARGIANI defeated Qingdao Grand
Prix winner Sirazhudin MAGOMEDOV (RUS) in a nail-biting bout to
determine the first -81kg finalist. The Georgian youngster countered a
ko-uchi-gari to score with a ko-soto-gake for ippon. The second
semi-final was won by KHUBETSOV who stopped the run of Giorgi
PAPUNASHVILI (GEO) by wazari-awasette-ippon.

The first bronze medal was won by world number 33
NYAMSUREN Dagvasuren (MGL) who stopped the hosts from earning one more
medal as Giorgi PAPUNASHVILI (GEO) slipped to defeat. NYAMSUREN won by
way of shido penalties to match his Jeju Grand Prix result while a
fifth-place for PAPUNASHVILI was still the best result of his career.
The second bronze medal was captured by MAGOMEDOV who threw Qingdao
Grand Prix silver medallist Antonio CIANO (ITA) with an uchi-mata for a
yuko and then countered that same technique for a second yuko.